Pharmaceutical Companies, Government and Society

Dr Patterson will review the background to the pharmaceutical crisis and the different ways that companies are approaching the issues. The lecture will review both the research and development and business issues facing the industry and its investors. The Pharmaceutical industry has been through a period of unprecedented growth in the last three decades, fuelled by the advances in biomedical science and an increasingly affluent Western Society. Looking forward, the picture is less rosy with reduced research and development productivity coupled with increasing pre-registration data demands from regulators and burgeoning costs. Taken together with major products losing patent protection and the need for health care costs to be kept under control, the current business model is under threat. Dr Patterson will review the background to the crisis and the different ways that companies are approaching the issues. The lecture will review both the research and development and business issues facing the industry and its investors.

The third Green Templeton Lecture 2009 explores how, by harnessing innovation to meet unmet medical needs, pharma companies can deliver significant value to patients, payers and shareholders. The Green Templeton Lectures 2009 explored the theme 'Addicted to Big Pharma? Reconciling business, medical and ethical needs' in a series of four lectures looking at the pharmaceutical industry past, present and future. This third lecture was delivered by Patrick Vallance (Head of Drug Discovery; GlaxoSmithKline) Philip Bloomer (Director of Campaigns; Oxfam)

This lecture will explore, from a historical perspective, the relationship between an emerging pharmaceutical industry, the establishment of drug regulatory authorities, and - most recently - the development of health technology assessment.

Tilli Tansey, Professor of History of Modern Medical Sciences, University College London traces the evolution of the modern pharmaceutical industry from the mid nineteenth century to the final decades of the twentieth century. The strong focus on British companies is not exclusive, and a large cast of characters including manufacturers, doctors, scientists and patients are considered. Several themes are explored, including the role of innovation in relation to production technology, marketing and advertising, and in particular in pharmaceutical research and drug discovery. The impact of legislation is examined with respect to animal experimentation, standardisation and drug safety. These changes will be discussed against a background of scientific advances, clinical developments and patient expectations.